The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-12-08
ELEPHANT HUNTING.
How the Monstrous Brutes are
Captured Alive in India.
Driving the Animals Into a
Funnel-Shaped lnclosure.

Funnel-Shaped lncloSure'
The first thing to be done is to find
the herd of elephants which it is in
tended to hunt. Its position has been
previously asccrtaincd, as nearly as pos
sible; but Of course a few days or few
hours may have made some great
changes, and some sudden alarm may
have driven them all right away, or the
herd may have become divided, or 1t
may turn out that another herd has ap-
preached it and may be induced, by
adroit man9uvcring, to join it. The
herd having been found, without its
being alarmed, the next thing is to sur
round it at a distance by light Gordon
of men, aud guide its unconscious steps
toward the kheddah in which it is to be
inclosed and captured. The general idea of
kheddah may be taken from an open
pair of conipasses, of which the round
head or hinge represents the inclosure
into which the elephants are to be
driven; while the outspread arms of the
compass represent the long lines of OBJ
stacles or scares by which the elephants
are prevented from straying to one side
or the other, so that they advance
through the purposcly undisturbcd jun
gle in the centre, between the gradually
convcrging lines of obstacles in the khed-
dah or inclosure already mentioned. The
elephant is timid and cautious animal.
If it meets with any chopped branche,
oftrees, or indications of the presence of
man, or anything to which its eyes are
unaccustomed, it will not advance In
| that direction. The real diff
Guilty Of the hunter lies in maxi
ing their lateral lines of obstacles suf-
ficiently obvious to the elephants with
out alarming them too much. At this
early stage of the proceedings not a
man should show himself, lest the wild
elephants should be frightened and
make stampede. The animal should
be left to pride himself on his own
cleverness at having detected signs of
danger, in consequence of which he ad
vances in what seems a safe direction.
But as the devoted herd gets further
| and further into the funnel of the con-
verging lines, much stronger measures
have to be adopted. Considerable
pressure is put on them from behind, to
urge them on in the right direction !;
and simultaneously the visible OBJ
stacles along the sides have to be much
strengthened and effectively guarded,
to prevent the herd from breaking
through them. As the elephants actu-
ally approach the kheddah itself there is
no longer any conccalment on the part
of the hunters. The firing of guns and
the beating Of drums, and loud shouts
and noises, with long lines of fires, made
out of the dried grass and brushwood,
which have been collected for this pur-
pose, compel the affrighted animals 10
push onward, until they finally enter the
kheddah itself, where at first all seems
comparatively silent and safe.
With regard to the actual khcddah or
inclosure, in which the elephants are
captured, a few words may suffice. 1t
is, OF course, surrounded by fence;
but the posts and rails are huge trees
and large branches stoutly intertwincd,
and strongly supported by groins to pre-.
vent them from yielding to the rush Of
the elephants trying to escape from theiI
captors. And if there is time to dig it,
a comparatively small ditch inside the
fence adds greatly to its strength. The
elephant sees the newly dug earth
and fears pitfall. Its fcet
sink into mud and water and thu
force of its charge against the fence
itself is thus broken. Presently, wher
all the herd have entered the Enclosure,
ponderous gate is closed behind them
and this gate has to be stoutly fortified
and also defended by a number of men
firing blank cartridges in the face of an.
elephant that charges at them. In tn
same way, the whole circle of tn
kheddah is lined on its outer side witt
men, firing guns ard brandishing torche
to repel the charges of the elephants
until the whole hcrl morally and physi
caliy collapses, ard tries to shelter itsel
in whatever cover may still be foun'
from the trees and jungle left standing
in the inclosure. i Longman's Maga
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